 |
| St Mark the Evangelist (1st Century) |
"The Gospel According to Mark" also known as the "Second Gospel", but more often referred to as "The Gospel of St Mark" - we're all familiar with it, but who is St Mark? This is a question not everyone is prepared to answer because for one to do so - one must leave scripture. Scripture alone can't answer this, but it is a good place to start.
"When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. " ~ Acts 12:12
Acts 12:12 tells us that community believers gathers at a house for worship & prayer. This house is the house of Mary, mother of John Mark. Normally, the house would be called after the head of the household which is the husband and father. The house is called "the house of Mary" because Mary, the mother of Mark, obviously, was a widow and Mark wasn't old enough to be called the head of household, perhaps in his teens or early twenties and was still seen as the "son of Mary", & not yet as a disciple, apostle, and evangelist. St Mark was a well-known disciple of St Peter & an apostle in his own right by the time Luke wrote "Acts of the Apostles". All early traditions connects the Second Gospel with two names, those of Saints Mark & Peter, Mark being held to have written what Peter had preached.
The Church Fathers:
"Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also handed down to us in writing what was preached by Peter. " (St Irenaeus - Against Heresies AD 175-185)
"St. Clement of Alexandria, relying on the authority of "the elder presbyters", tells us that, when Peter had publicly preached in Rome, many of those who heard him exhorted Mark, as one who had long followed Peter and remembered what he had said, to write it down, and that Mark "composed the Gospel and gave it to those who had asked for it. " (St Eusebius - Church History c AD 314)
"Mark wrote as Peter directed him (os Petros huphegesato auto). " (Origen AD 185-254)
"Peter approved or authorized Mark's work. " (St Eusebius - Church History c AD 314)
 |
| St Peter preaching in the presence of St Mark |
"She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark. " ~ I Peter 5:13
St Peter refers to Mark as his "son", as seen on this passage, because Mark was a disciple of Peter. It was common practice amongst early Christians to refer to someone who learned the Faith from them, as "son". Though Peter was teacher of the Church as a whole and leader of the 12 Apostles, he still did not refer to persons of about his own age as "sons." St Mark the Evangelist must have been about a generation younger than St Peter, young enough to be called his "son". Going back to Acts 12:12, Mark was a very young man compared to Peter who was already preaching.
We read St Paul calling, his disciple, Timothy his child in:
"Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church." ~ I Corinthians 4:17
"Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you; for he is very useful in serving me." ~ 2 Tim 4:11
According to St Hippolytus on his work called "On the Seventy Apostles", Mark was among these Seventy Apostles who were sent out by Jesus to saturate Judea with the gospel after his crucifixion. However, when Jesus said that His flesh was "real food" and His blood was "real drink", many disciples left him (John 6:44-66), including Mark the Evangelist. He was later restored to faith by St Peter; then became Peter’s interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the church of Africa, and became the Bishop of Alexandria.
